Why Ford's owning the political war on drugs

And sashay away, Capital Pride

ABOVE THE FOLD

THE POLITICS OF CONSUMPTION SITES — As cities and towns put pressure on DOUG FORD’s government to take action on homelessness, addictions and mental health, the Premier is cracking down on supervised drug consumption sites — something that, policy-wise, critics say is a “death sentence” for the most vulnerable, but politically speaking, insiders say it’s an issue Ford can win.

What’s happening: Health Minister SYLVIA JONES gave the official word on Day 2 of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s conference in Ottawa (to tepid applause). The province will ban supervised drug consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and child care centres by next March, which will see 10 out of 23 sites close. Those sites will be banned from relocating, new ones will be blocked from opening, and municipalities won’t be able to ask the feds for decriminalization.

That last one was pretty much a given — Ford previously promised to fight Toronto’s request for decriminalization t…